High- Level Specification

Functional Overview

1. Business Requirement

To ensure robust and stable integration between Sales & Distribution (SD) and Transportation Management (TM), the business requires control over changes to the Shipping Condition once Transportation planning has commenced.

When a Freight Unit (FU) has already been planned and assigned to a Freight Order or Freight Booking, changing the Shipping Condition—specifically from Ocean to Condition— to anyting else (for example Sea to  Air)—creates a mismatch between the sales document and the transportation execution. This can result in automatic de-assignment of the Freight Unit, leading to disruption of downstream logistics processes, replanning efforts, and potential delivery delays.

This WRICEF introduces controlled validation logic to prevent Shipping Condition changes from Ocean to any other shipping condition condition when the related Freight Unit is already planned, while still allowing flexibility for other mode changes where operationally valid.

The solution supports:

• Protection of TM planning integrity

• Prevention of Freight Unit de-assignment

• Consistent SD–TM integration behavior

• Controlled flexibility based on Freight Unit planning status

Scope and Objectives

This WRICEF covers a targeted enhancement applicable to:

• Sales Orders (Document Category C)

• Change processing only

The enhancement applies at sales order header level, evaluated against item-level Freight Unit planning status, and is enforced during Save. 

Applications in Scope

• SAP Fiori

• Manage Sales Orders – Version 2
• Change Sales Orders

Why Standard SAP Is Not Sufficient

SAP standard does not include a validation mechanism to:

• Check Freight Unit planning status in TM when a Shipping Condition is changed in Sales Orders

• Prevent mode-of-transport mismatches once a Freight Unit is Planned or Partially Planned

• Distinguish between allowed and disallowed Shipping Condition changes based on TM execution status

Without such validation:

• Users can change the Shipping Condition from Ocean to  to any other shipping condition after TM planning has occurred

• Freight Units may be automatically de-assigned due to transport mode inconsistencies

• Freight Orders or Freight Bookings can be disrupted or invalidated

• Downstream logistics processes require manual correction and replanning

Limited Control in SAP Fiori Sales Order Processing

In the Manage Sales Orders – Version 2 Fiori app:

• Shipping Condition changes are allowed without awareness of TM planning status

• No standard error handling exists to block incompatible changes at Save

• Users receive no immediate feedback on the impact of changes to TM execution

The scope of this enhancement is depicted in process step Maintain item details below. For the full Signavio, please go to 02.04.02.01. Manage Standard Sales Order

Assumptions

• Sales Orders are integrated with SAP Transportation Management (TM) and generate Freight Units (FUs) as part of standard SD–TM integration.

• Freight Unit planning status maintained in TM (/SCMTMS/D_TORROT-PLAN_STATUS_ROOT) is considered the single source of truth for determining whether Transportation planning has commenced.

• The Shipping Condition field (VBAK-VSBED) is used consistently to derive the mode of transport for TM planning.

• The restriction applies only when a Shipping Condition change would result in a mode-of-transport conflict (Ocean → Air) with an already Planned or Partially Planned Freight Unit.

• When a Freight Unit is in Not Planned (“01”) status, the system assumes that no TM execution commitments exist and Shipping Condition changes may proceed.

• The validation logic assumes a direct and reliable link between Sales Order items and Freight Units via standard TM integration tables.

• Error handling is implemented as a hard validation (blocking error) to prevent inconsistent data from being saved.

Dependencies

Not Applicable.

Security, Integrity and Controls

The enhancement will follow the SAP standard security and authorization framework.
The authorization to maintain these this field should be included in the Customer Representative Role as part of the Manage Sales Orders v2  - F3893, VA02 Change Sales order. 

Configuration RequirementsConfiguration of shipping conditions.

Not Applicable

Language Requirements

Not Applicable

Special Requirements

Not Applicable

Design Rationale

Functional Requirements

Shipping Condition Change Restriction

Applicability

The restriction requirements apply to sales document header changes for:

• Sales Orders (Document Category C)

The validation behavior shall be enforced in:

• SAP Fiori – Manage Sales Orders – Version 2 (F3893)

1. Shipping Condition Field (VBAK-VSBED)

Field Usage

The system shall use the standard SAP Shipping Condition field (VBAK-VSBED) to derive the Mode of Transport for downstream Transportation Management (TM) planning.

2. Freight Unit Planning Status Evaluation

TM Integration Dependency

The system shall evaluate the Freight Unit (FU) planning status in SAP Transportation Management before allowing certain Shipping Condition changes.

TM Tables in Scope

• Sales Order Item ↔ Freight Unit link: /SCMTMS/D_TORITE

• Freight Unit Root: /SCMTMS/D_TORROT

• Planning Status Field: /SCMTMS/D_TORROT-PLAN_STATUS_ROOT

Relevant Planning Status Values

Shipping Condition Restriction Logic

Standard Field Usage

The system shall restrict changes to the Shipping Condition (VBAK-VSBED) based on the Freight Unit planning status in TM.

Restriction Logic

When a user attempts to change the Shipping Condition, the system shall apply the following rules:

Restricted Scenario

The system shall prevent saving the Sales Order if all of the following conditions are met:

• Existing Shipping Condition = Ocean (01)Any allowed value for example (30 Sea) 

• New Shipping Condition = anything not equal to Ocean (01)other allowed value for example 20 Rail   

• A Freight Unit exists for at least one Sales Order item

• Freight Unit Planning Status is:

  • Planned (“03”), or

  • Partially Planned (“02”)

Allowed Scenarios

The system shall allow the Sales Order to be saved when:

• Freight Unit Planning Status = Not Planned (“01”)

• No Freight Unit exists for the Sales Order

Restriction Lift Logic

Applicability

The restriction shall be dynamically lifted based on the Freight Unit planning state.

Restriction Lift Rules

If the Freight Unit Planning Status changes to:

• Not Planned (“01”)

Then:

• The Shipping Condition change from Ocean current value → any other value shall be permitted

• The Sales Order may be saved successfully

Error Handling

Blocking Behavior

If the restriction conditions are met, the system shall:

• Prevent the Sales Order from being saved

Error Messaging

The system shall display a clear and meaningful error message indicating that:

• The Shipping Condition change from Ocean to any other condition is not permitted

• The related Freight Unit is already Planned or Partially Planned in Transportation Management

Example (illustrative):

“Shipping Condition change from Ocean to Air is not permitted. Related Freight Unit is already planned in Transportation Management.”

Proposed Technology to Use

The enhancement leverages SAP S/4HANA extensibility without core modifications:

An implementation of BADI is required and put a validation in SD_SLS_CHECK_HEAD / SD_SLS_CHECK_BEFORE_SAVE to check, before saving a Sales Document, that when the Shipping Type is changed to a new value , the associated Freight Unit Planning Status meets the required condition suggested below; otherwise the system should block the save with an appropriate message.

Data Source Considerations

Data Validation Considerations

Not Required

Custom Tables

Not Required

Master Data

Configuration Table

Selection Screen Enhancement

Processing Logic

Shipping Condition Change Restriction (Sales Order Header)

Applicability

The restriction applies to:

• Sales Orders (Document Category C)

• Header-level changes to Shipping Condition (VBAK-VSBED)

• Enforced in:

  • SAP Fiori – Manage Sales Orders – Version 2 (F3893)

1. Standard Field Usage

The system shall use the standard SAP field:

• Shipping Condition (VBAK-VSBED)

This field is used to derive the Mode of Transport for downstream Transportation Management (TM) planning.

The system shall restrict changes to VBAK-VSBED based on the related Freight Unit planning status in TM.

2. TM Integration Dependency

When a Shipping Condition change is attempted, the system shall:

1. Identify Freight Units linked to the Sales Order items via:

   • /SCMTMS/D_TORITE (Sales Order Item ↔ Freight Unit link)

2. Read the Freight Unit root record:

   • /SCMTMS/D_TORROT

3. Evaluate Planning Status field:

   • /SCMTMS/D_TORROT-PLAN_STATUS_ROOT

Planning Status values:

Shipping Condition Restriction Logic

Step-by-step logic at Sales Order Save

FOR the Sales Order header being saved:

1. Read existing Shipping Condition = VSBED_old

2. Read new Shipping Condition = VSBED_new

1. new

Restricted Scenario 

The system shall prevent saving the Sales Order if all of the following conditions are met:

• Existing Shipping Condition = Ocean (01) Any allowed value on the field

• New Shipping Condition ≠ Ocean (01)= Any allowed value on the field

• At least one Freight Unit exists for any Sales Order item

• Freight Unit Planning Status is:

  • 02 (Partially Planned), or

  • 03 (Planned)

If all above conditions are met:

→ Prevent Sales Order save (transaction rollback)
→ Raise blocking error message
→ Set field focus to Shipping Condition (VBAK-VSBED)

Allowed Scenarios

The system shall allow the Sales Order to be saved when:

• Freight Unit Planning Status = 01 (Not Planned)
  OR

• No Freight Unit exists for the Sales Order

Restriction Lift Logic

Applicability

The restriction shall be dynamically evaluated at each save attempt.

Restriction Lift Rules

If the Freight Unit Planning Status changes to:

• 01 (Not Planned)

Then:

• The Shipping Condition change from Ocean (01) → current value → any other value shall be permitted

• The Sales Order may be saved successfully

This ensures the restriction is not permanent and responds dynamically to TM planning status.

Error Handling

Blocking Behavior

If the restriction conditions are met, the system shall:

• Prevent the Sales Order from being saved

• Display a blocking error message

Suggested Error Text

Shipping Condition cannot be changed from Ocean because Freight Unit planning has already started in Transportation Management (Status: Planned or Partially Planned).

Expected Outcomes by Scenario

Volumetrics

Monthly average 124 Sales orders are changed from Ocean to Air on Legacy System.

Performance Considerations

The enhancement is expected to support concurrent updates by a maximum of two (2) users simultaneously.

These updates would occur on different sales orders and potentially across different Sales Organizations.

No mass processing, background jobs, or high-volume parallel processing is expected. Therefore, no additional performance optimization beyond standard SAP transaction handling is required.

Volumetrics

Error Handling

Blocking Behavior

If the restriction conditions are met, the system shall:

• Prevent the Sales Order from being saved

Error Messaging

The system shall display a clear and meaningful error message indicating that:

• The Shipping Condition change from Ocean to any other condition is not permitted

• The related Freight Unit is already Planned or Partially Planned in Transportation Management

Example (illustrative):

“Shipping Condition change from Ocean to Air is not permitted. Related Freight Unit is already planned in Transportation Management.”

Testing

How to Test

Test Conditions and Expected Results

Test Considerations/Dependencies

Other Information

Development Details

Package

Enhancement Implementation

Other Development Objects

Appendix

Custom Authorization Group Naming Convention

This table is based on the Syensqo development standards document. It provides the naming conventions for authorization groups to associated with custom reports and tables to comply with security requirements.

See also

Change log